ENG 231
Tenative Course Schedule
Summer 20009
NOTE: This schedule may change as needed. Your presence in class ensures correct assignments
Intro to Course/Native Voices
WEEK 1
T 5/19 MEET IN CLASSROOM: Introduction
Assignment:
- Complete online e-learning modules one - six
- Read about online manners.
- Read about why we use discussion boards.
- Create an account an Annenberg Media for American Passages Videos.
- Complete introduction post to Blackboard discussion board #2:
In approximately 300 words (you can write more) tell the class a little about
yourself. For instance, you can give us the typcial things like where you are from,
your age, a physical description of yourself, the number of siblings you have,
hobbies, where you see yourself in ten years, etc., but try to make it a little more
interesting. Tell us what you biggest pet peeve is, tell us the one thing about you
that we may not know by just looking at you (if we could).
You can also tell us about some of your likes/dislikes: What is your favorite food,
your favorite movie, your favorite actor, your favorite singer/band, your favorite
song, favorite book, etc.?
In another 300 words, address the following questions: What is an American? What
is democracy?
Your post should be completed by Thursday 5/21
R 5/21
MEET IN CLASSROOM: Native American Lit (Early Vs. Modern)
MEET IN CLASSROOM: Native American Lit (Early Vs. Modern) Assignment: - Watch Native Voices Video
- Watch Utopian Promise Video
- Read "The Origin of Stories", 51-53 & "Creation of the Whites,
Do Reader Response 1 : Compare & contrast the creation stories to the poem by
Turcotte and Ortiz. What does each reveal about Native American Culture both
past and present ? Explain how they illustrate what it means to be an American;
How do these texts fit into the current cultural definition for this term? Your post
should be a min. of 300 words and posted to the discussion board by 8am on T 5/26.
- Read Class Notes on the Puritans; Read William Bradford from
“Of Plymouth Plantation,” 324-332; 334-337; 340-343; Read Thomas
Morton from “New English Canaan,” 296-299; 301-303
board to the following question by 8am on T 5/26: Explain how Bradford
creates American cultural myth that we still buy into and struggle with today.
board to the following question by 8am on T 5/26:: How does Morton create,
challenge, or reimagine American myth? In other words, how might his ideas have
helped to shape our current definition of what it means to be an American?
Utopian Promise
WEEK 2
T 5/26 MEET IN CLASSROOM: Bradford & Morton; Read Semester Research Project;
Assignment: - Post two follow-up responses to comments made by other students. You
may respond to any two student's posts for reader response 1, 2, or 3, but these
must be posted by 8 am on R 5/28. In your follow-up response discuss how/why
you agree or disagree with the ideas/perceptions that other students had about the
various works or discuss how/why you think the ideas/perceptions of another
student had about this work connect to the Native American creation stories that
we read earlier (or connect to Winthrop, Bradstreet, or Taylor) Your follow-up
response should be a minimum of 200 words.
- Read "A Model of Christian Charity," by John Winthrop,
309-317; (We will discuss this on R 5/31) Bradstreet, “Prologue,” 396-397; “The
Author to Her Book,” 402; “Before the Birth of One of Her Children,” 406; “To My
Dear and Loving Husband,” 406-407; “Here Follows Some Verses upon the
Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666,” 409-410; Read
Taylor,“The Preface (from Gods Determinations), 472-473;
“Meditation 26,” 487-488; “Upon Wedlock and Death of Children,” 480-
481;
- Do Reader Response 4: Bradstreet or Taylor by posting a 300 word
response to the discussion board to the following question by 8am on R 5/28:
Explain how the poetry of Ann Bradstreet and Edward Taylor both illustrate the
guiding principals of the idea of weaned affections and struggle with it as well.
R 5/28 Bradstreet, & Taylor
ONLINE
Assignment:
- Post one follow-up response to comments made by other students for Reader
Response 4. This must be posted by 8am on T 6/2. In your follow-up response
discuss how/why you agree/disagree with the ideas/perceptions that other
students had about the various works or discuss how/why you think the
ideas/perceptions of another student had about this work connect to another work
we have read thus far this term. Your follow-up response should be a minimum of
200 words.
- Read Mary Rowlandson, “A Narrative of the Captiivity and
Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson,” 440-468; Do Reader Response 5
question by 8am on T 6/2: Explain how Rowlandson's Narrative fits the
definition of jeremiad. See Class Notes on thePuritans for a definition.
WEEK 3
T 6/2 Winthrop and Rowlandson
Winthrop and Rowlandson ONLINE
Assignment :
- Post one follow-up response to comments made by other students for
Reader Response 5. This post must be completed by 8am on R 6/4. In your
follow-up response discuss how/why you agree with the ideas/perceptions that
other students had about the various works or discuss how/why you think the
ideas/perceptions of another student had about this work connect to another work
we have read thus far this term. Your follow-up response should be a minimum of
200 words.
- Read Woolman, from“The Journal of John Woolman,” 692-698
and Samson Occom, “A Short Narrative of My Life,”1116-1121;
reimagine American myth in a post of 300 words to the message board by
8am on R 6/4.
- Should have read "A Model of Christian Charity," by John Winthrop,
309-317 back on T 1/20 (See schedule);
Do Reader Response 7: Winthrop's sermon touches on many important issues,
including attempted explanations of the issues of wealth/poverty, good/evil, and
justice/mercy. The most quoted line of his sermon deals with the idea of the
Puritans at Massachusetts Bay Colony as a model for the rest of the world: "... for
we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill (a reference to Matthew 5:
14-15; see notes bottom of pg. 317) the eyes of all people are upon us ... we shall be
made a story and a by-word through the world ..." In a post of at least 300 words,
Explain how Winthrop's sermon has created many American myths that our culture
still buys into today (concerning this quote and the issues mentioned above). This
post must be completed by 8am on R 6/4.
R 6/4 Woolman & Occom
ONLINE
Assignment:
- Complete two follow-up responses of 150 words each to comments made by
other students for Reader Responses 6 and/or 7 by 8am on T 6/9. In your follow-up
responses discuss how/why you think the ideas/perceptions of another student
(and/or students) had about this work may connect to another work we have read
thus far this term.
- Read Class Notes on Nationalism ; Read Part Two of Ben
Franklin’s The Autobiography Beginning at Continuation of the Account of My
Life (Begun at Passy, 1784), 876-890; Read Johnathan Edwards, “Sinners in
the Hands of an Angry God,” 666-678;
- Do Reader Response 8: Edwards by posting a 300 word response to the
discussion board and answering the following question by 8am on T 6/9: How does
Edwards challenge or reimagine American myth? Explain how his world view
differs from Franklin's.
- Begin work on essay portion of Midterm exam.
Spirit of Nationalism
WEEK 4
T 6/9 MEET IN CLASS: Edwards & Franklin
Assignment:
- Complete two follow-up response of 200 words each to comments made by
other students for Reader Response 8 by 8am on R 6/11. In your follow-up
responses discuss how/why you think the ideas/perceptions of another student
(and/or students) had about this work may connect to another work we have read
thus far this term.
Read Jefferson, from "Notes on the State of Virginia," 1003-1010; Read Phyllis
Wheatley, “Letter to Samson Occom,” 1056, “To the University of Cambridge, in
New England,” 1249-1250, “On Being Brought From Africa to America,” 1247;
Read William Appess, “An Indian’s Looking Glass for the White Man,” 1460- 1465;
Read Locke, from "Essay on Human Understanding," 635-636" & from
"Concerning Civil Government, Second Essay," 1051-1052
- Do Reader Response 9 by posting a 300 word response to the discussion
board to the following question by 8am on R 6/11: Discuss how Locke's ideas
apply to Jefferson, Wheatley, or Appess.
- Continue to work on essay portion of Midterm exam.
ONLINE Read Annotated Bibliography
Jefferson, Wheatley, & Appess
Assignment: - Post one follow-up response to comments made by other students for
Reader Response 9 by 8am on T 6/16. In your follow-up response discuss how/why
you agree/disagree with the ideas/perceptions that other students had about the
various works or discuss how/why you think the ideas/perceptions of another
student had about this work connect to another work we have read thus far this
term. Your follow-up response should be a minimum of 200 words.
- Work on MIDTERM ; Due by 8am T 6/16.
- Read J. Hector St. John de Crevecouer, “Letters from an
American Farmer”: from Letter III: What is an American? 928-933
- Do Reader Response 10 by posting a 300 word response to the discussion
board to the following question by 8am on T 6/16:: "Letters from an
American Farmer": How does de Crevecouer define the term "American"? How
does this create, challenge, or reimagine American myth?
WEEK 5
T 6/16 MIDTERM EXAM Due by 8am; Crevecouer
ONLINE
Assignment:
- Post one follow-up response to comments made by other students for Reader Response 10 by 8am on R 6/18. In your follow-up response discuss how/why you
agree/disagree with the ideas/perceptions that other students had about the
various works or discuss how/why you think the ideas/perceptions of another
student had about this work connect to another work we have read thus far this
term. Your follow-up response should be a minimum of 200 words.
- Read Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nature,” 1583-1609; review Locke, from "Essay on
Human Understanding," 635-636"
- Do Reader Response 11 by posting a 300 word response to the discussion
board for the following prompt on by 8am on R 6/18: Identify one passage in
Emerson's essay and explain what you like about it and/or wny you think it is
important.
R 6/18 Transcendentalism & Emerson
ONLINE Assignment:
- Post a follow-up response to a comments made by another student for
Reader Response 11 by 8am on T 6/23. In your follow-up response discuss how/why
you think their ideas/perceptions connect to another work we have read thus
far this term.. Your follow-up response should be a minimum of 200 words.
- Read Henry David Thoreau, “Resistance to Civil
Government,” 1738-1752;
- Do Reader Response 12 : "Resistance to Civil Government" by posting a 300
word response to the discussion board for the following question by 8am on T 6/23:
Choose a passge you like and explain what you like about it and/or why you think it
is important.
WEEK 6
T 6/23 Emerson and Thoreau
ONLINE Assignment:
- Annotated Bibliography Due by 8am on R 6/25
- Post a follow-up response to a comments made by another student for Reader Response 12 by 8am on R 6/25. In your follow-up response discuss
how/why you think their ideas/perceptions connect to another work we have read
thus far this term.. Your follow-up response should be a minimum of 200 words.
- Watch Masculine Heroes Video
- Read James Fenimore Cooper,
from “The Pioneers,” 2187-2200; Read Nat Love, ; Read Chapters 1, 2, 6,
13, 14, & 20 of The Life and Adventures OF NAT LOVE BETTER
- Do Reader Response 13: Love by first re-reading chapter XXII of The
Pioneers by Cooper, 2195-2200 and then respond to the following question on the
discussion board in a post of a minimum of 300 words by 8am by R 6/25: How do
Cooper and Love challenge and reimagine American myth?
R 6/25 Annotated Bibliography due by 8am. Masculine Heroes; Discuss Cooper & Love;
ONLINE Assigment:
- Respond to a post by another student for Reader Response 13 by 8am on Tuesday,
6/30. In your follow-up response discuss how/why you think their
ideas/perceptions connect to another work we have read thus
far this term.. Your follow-up response should be a minimum of 200 words.
- Read Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Poet," 1638-1653;
- Do Reader Response 14 by posting a 300 word response to the discussion board by 8am on T 6/30: Choose a passage that you like and explain how this
quote relates to Emerson's definintion of the term, "poet" and this poet's role in
society/culture?
WEEK 7
T 6/30 Emerson's, "The Poet" & Whitman
ONLINE
Assignment:
- Complete a follow up response to a post by another student for Reader
think their ideas/perceptions connect to another work we have read thus
far this term.. Your follow-up response should be a minimum of 200 words
- Choose any Whitman poem to discuss (or section of a poem) from your textbook;
- Do Reader Response 15 by posting a 300 word response to the discussion board to the following questions by 8am on R 7/2 : When Emerson wrote "The
Poet"in 1844, he proclaimed that "Poets are liberating gods . . . they are free, and
they make free." He wished for the emergence of a poet "without impediment, who
sees and handles that which others dream of, traverses the whole scale of
experience, and is representative of man." Using these quotes by Emerson, explain
if Whitman has indeed answered this passionate plea for a truly American Poet? Is
he truly representative of man, truly an "American" poet? Explain.
R 7/2 CLASS ONLINE ONLY!!! Douglass
ONLINE Assignment:
- Final Draft of Semester Research Project Due with
Reflection by 8am on T 7/7;
- Read Frederick Douglass' “Narrative,” 1882-1905; 1914-top of 1923.
- Do Reader Response 16 by posting a 300 word response to the discussion
board to the following question by 8am on T 7/7: Explain how Douglass'
text create, challenges,or reimagines American myth.
- BEGIN WORK ON FINAL EXAM
WEEK 8
T 7/7 Semester Research Project Due by 8am; Douglass
ONLINE
Assignment:
- Work on Final Exam
- FINAL EXAM ESSAY DUE with Reflection by 8am on R 7/9
R 7/9 FINAL EXAM ESSAY DUE with Reflection by 8am
ONLINE
